Remember

Decades of accuracy in global forecasting

Many readers of the Philadelphia Trumpet newsmagazine tell us they recognize the same message the Plain Truth carried for 52 years under the direction of its founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. Subscribers point to similarities between our style of writing and presentation and those of the Plain Truth in its heyday.

There is a reason for this—and it will be made plain in this publication.

Mr. Armstrong was one of the most prominent religious leaders of the 20th century. He was watched, read and followed by millions of people worldwide. At the time of his death in 1986, the newsmagazine he founded back in 1934 was produced in seven languages; global circulation peaked at 8.4 million. (By comparison, Time magazine’s circulation that year was 5.9 million.)

What happened to the Plain Truth? One example will explain.

A Total Editorial Change

For more than five decades under Mr. Armstrong’s leadership, year in and year out the Plain Truth had powerfully and consistently shouted a warning in print about the revival and unification of Germany. It proclaimed that Germany would be the dominant force behind a powerful union of European nation-states that would surpass the Russian bloc and even Britain and America in power and hegemony. These statements don’t seem so strange today—but imagine predicting that when Germany lay in rubble after World War ii. That is what the Plain Truth did. It was truly a unique publication in the world of news analysis and commentary.

Mr. Armstrong did not live to see the Berlin Wall breached on November 9, 1989, or Germany unite on October 3 a year later. By that time, however, an amazing thing had occurred: Those who took over publishing the Plain Truth after Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986 had totally changed its editorial policy!

Here is what the publishers of the “new look” Plain Truth said about that earth-shattering event in 1989: “Following the spectacular news about the opening of the Berlin Wall, we unexpectedly received a call from a news station in Seattle. The news director was well aware of the World Tomorrow program and the fact that for more than 40 years the Church had been predicting the reunification of Europe in some form. He asked for on-air comments about whether the Church believed the opening of the wall was the commencement of end-time prophetic events.

“We responded that it was premature to make statements like that ….

“The news director was disappointed that we would not proclaim this to be the absolute beginning of end-time events, but it was interesting that he did say that what the Church has predicted from the Bible was remarkably close to what appears to be happening” (Pastor General’s Report, Nov. 21, 1989; emphasis added).

To longtime readers of the Plain Truth, such a tepid assessment of the dramatic events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall was dumbfounding. The magazine had lost its vision, its reason for being! It was fast beginning to deny its editorial heritage of forecasting events boldly and outspokenly. Readership dropped off quickly. Soon the publishers were facing a financial crisis as subscribers’ donations disappeared. Readers and supporters of Mr. Armstrong’s flagship magazine decamped in droves.

At one time, those readers had a vision—a vision of reality that gave them a confidence in the future. Millions of Plain Truth readers who saw the Berlin Wall tumbling down on their television screens combed the pages of the Plain Truth in vain, searching for a perspective on the next event that would hasten the rise of the European power Mr. Armstrong had prophesied.

Many of those former Plain Truth readers are now among the hundreds of thousands who receive the Trumpet. We have striven to provide readers the same brand of analysis that made the Plain Truth such a success.

What underpins that analysis? As long as Mr. Armstrong was at the helm, the Plain Truth often proved accurate, penetrating and well ahead of its time. That is because its articles were based on how world events were fulfilling the prophecies of the Bible.

Why Prophecy

Prophecy is a widely misunderstood but crucial aspect of inspired biblical instruction. It fills no less than a third of your Bible, from its opening pages to its final chapters. God sent prophets and commanded them to record details about events far in the future (e.g. Isaiah 30:8; Daniel 12:4, 8-9). Only the living, Almighty God can prophesy and then bring those prophecies to pass. In Scripture, He openly mocks any false god who would dare try (e.g. Isaiah 41:21-23). Yet He promises that every word He utters will transpire just as He has said (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Jesus Christ Himself was a prophet. Revelation 19:10 states that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Jesus commanded His followers to “watch and pray”—to be vigilant to certain “signs of the times” foreshadowing the end of this present age of man (Luke 21:34-36). And He personally prophesied about major world events that would occur some 2,000 years after He had walked the Earth.

As important as prophecy is, it is also difficult to comprehend. It is written in symbol, using ancient names and unfamiliar terminology. Thus, most people—even those who value the Bible—pay it little attention. This is a mistake. God intends prophecy to be understood—it is His tool revealing His part in steering world affairs!

As the Apostle Peter said, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). God wants us to heed prophecy: It points toward the dawn of a new day, when Jesus Christ will return to Earth to establish His Kingdom! However, we cannot simply figure it out on our own. In fact, Peter continues, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (verse 20). Understanding prophecy is impossible without God’s revelation! He must supply the interpretation and reveal the meaning.

How does God do this? “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). God’s “secret” includes the meaning of all these prophecies He recorded millennia ago and preserved for our day, “the time of the end.” And it is to “his servants the prophets” that He would reveal it.

One prophecy Jesus taught His disciples was that He would raise up a servant in the end time, a latter-day type of Elijah the prophet, who would prepare the way for Christ’s return and who would “restore all things.” (Read about this in Matthew 17 and in your free copy of A Pivotal Sign of the End Time.)

God fulfilled this prophecy. He raised up a man to restore all the foundational teachings of the Bible, truths that had been lost over the centuries since Christ’s day, to the Church of God—Christian living, prophecy, everything! That servant, like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah and all the other prophets, was a specific man in a specific time doing a specific work.

That man was Herbert W. Armstrong. God revealed the truths of the Bible—all but lost to false Christianity over the millenniums—to this end-time type of Elijah. He revealed the true gospel, true Christian living, the true purpose of life and the true meaning of key prophecies. It was God’s time for these prophecies to be known, and it was this man, fulfilling a specific prophetic office, to whom He gave that understanding.

That revealed knowledge was the foundation of the Plain Truth’s message. And after Mr. Armstrong died and his successors abandoned the mission he fulfilled and the truth he taught, that unfinished work needed to be continued.

‘Prophesy Again’

In 1990, we started the Trumpet on a shoestring budget, a handful of subscribers and one objective: to pick up where Mr. Armstrong left off.

In Revelation 10:11, God gave one of His servants a commission to “prophesy again.” That command, if you understand the context, reveals the need for the work we are doing today. Mr. Armstrong had a strong work of prophesying. But that work was tragically dismantled—and God had to raise up another organization to resume that work. Our work is grounded in what God taught through Mr. Armstrong and what He is teaching today. We follow what Mr. Armstrong did, building on the understanding God gave him.

This publication is a look back at our roots. Our staff scoured through decades of old Plain Truth issues, looking for bold predictions. We then matched those prophetic statements with what actually happened, or is now happening, on the world scene.

The result was amazing. The sheer number of prophetic statements made by Mr. Armstrong and his editorial team, and their accuracy, will astound you. And since we first undertook this “he was right” project back in 2000, a great many more events have unfolded according to the prophecies Mr. Armstrong proclaimed. This updated edition aims to show how much further advanced the world is toward the climax of the age.

God has opened our understanding of these events in advance for several important reasons. Think deeply on the profound implications of the message in these pages. Mr. Armstrong’s legacy is truly remarkable and important to remember. His lengthy track record of accurate predictive analysis should build our faith in the certainty of biblical prophecy and, more importantly, help us to see the great God behind it all. God is communicating with you right now, in these urgent final days of this age. Take warning—and take action.